The present invention relates to a fuel cell mount apparatus with a fuel cell mounted thereon as a power supply for an electronic apparatus such as, for example, a robot apparatus, an articulated robot, a notebook type personal computer, a cellular phone, a camera-integrated type VTR (Video Tape Recorder), a personal digital aid (PDA), etc., and particularly to a fuel cell mount apparatus in which at least part of component parts of an electronic apparatus and component parts of a fuel cell is used in common. In addition, the present invention relates to a fuel cell mount apparatus in which a secondary cell or the like capable of supplying required electric power even in the case of a large variation in load is provided separately from a fuel cell. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electric power supply system capable of stable power supply even in the case of a large variation in load by use of a secondary cell or the like provided separately from a fuel cell.
As this type of fuel cell mount apparatus, heretofore, there has been known, for example, that which is configured as shown in FIG. 6 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-213359, pp. 3-4, FIGS. 1 and 2). FIG. 6 shows a notebook type personal computer 1 in which a small, solid state type fuel cell using hydrogen as a fuel and air as an oxidizing agent is used as a portable power supply.
The notebook type personal computer 1 is composed of a personal computer main body 3 with a keyboard console unit 2 disposed at its upper surface, and a lid body 5 with a liquid crystal display 4 mounted at its lower surface. The personal computer main body 3 and the lid body 5 are linked on the back side by hinges so that they can be turned freely and be fixed at arbitrary positions. With the lid 5 closed and laid on the personal computer main body 3, the liquid crystal display 4 is laid on the keyboard console unit 2 so that they are covered by each other. A cell containing portion 6 is provided at a side surface of the personal computer main body 3, and a fuel cell 7 as a portable power supply is removably mounted in the cell containing portion 6 to be used.
The fuel cell 7 includes a power generation unit 8 for generating electric power by use of a fuel (hydrogen) and air (oxygen), a hydrogen storage cylinder 9 for supplying the power generation unit 8 with stored hydrogen in a predetermined quantity, an air supply means 10 for supplying air to the power generation unit 8, a control unit 11 for controlling the power generating operation of the power generation unit 8, a cell case 12 for containing these components integrally, and the like. The cell case 12 is provided with an intake port 13 and an exhaust port 14 for air, and a connection unit 15 for electrical connection between the personal computer main body 3 and the fuel cell 7. Besides, a fan as a specific example of the air supply means 10 is disposed on the inside of the intake port 13 of the cell case 12.
Besides, as the above-mentioned related-art fuel cell mount apparatus, there has been, for example, that which is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-59389. This reference (refer, particularly, to pp. 3-4 and FIGS. 1 and 2) describes an autonomous walking robot apparatus composed of a robot in which, based on detection signals from sensors for outputting the detection signals by detecting the external atmosphere, an actuator unit causes a plurality of drive units to perform autonomous operations corresponding to the detection signals, and a battery charger for the robot.
In the autonomous walking robot apparatus, at the time of charging the battery of the robot, the actuator drives the fore-legs and hind-legs with a walking guide signal transmitted from the battery charger in response to a battery charging demand signal from an antenna unit, the robot approaches the battery charger, then, the fore-legs, the hind-legs, a mouth part and a tail part are driven based on a peripheral environmental map formed by detection of land marks by an external field image pickup sensor, the robot is disposed in a battery charging pose relative to the battery charger, and the battery is charged. At the time of completion of the battery charging, a battery charging stop demand signal is sent from the antenna unit, the operation of the battery charger is stopped, and the robot is released from the battery charger. Thus, the battery charging is naturally performed as an amusement operation for the tired robot to rest in the battery charging position, and the user can enjoy an amusement even during the battery charging.
However, in the related-art fuel cell mount apparatuses as above-mentioned, in the case of the former one, the notebook type personal computer 1 is provided with the control unit including a microcomputer or the like for performing a predetermined control based on the information inputted from the keyboard console unit 2 and the like, and, separately from this control unit, a control unit 11 for controlling the power generation unit 8 and the like is separately and independently provided also in the fuel cell 7. Further, the notebook type personal computer 1 and the fuel cell 7 each include heat-generating component element such as the control unit and a motor, and, therefore, they are each separately and independently provided with a fan, a pump, a cooler and the like for cooling the heat-generating parts. The situations of the component elements, environmental conditions and the like apply also to the case of the latter one, namely, the autonomous walking robot apparatus.
Therefore, a plurality of the same component parts used for a common purpose are provided in one fuel cell mount apparatus. Therefore, there has been the problem that the number of component parts is large, the apparatus as a whole is complicated, and the apparatus is uneconomical.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned fuel cell mount apparatus, where the drive units of the electronic apparatus are supplied with electric power from one fuel cell, the electric power consumed in a specific drive unit may be abruptly increased to exceed the upper limit of the electric power amount which can be supplied from the fuel cell. When the upper limit of the electric power amount which can be supplied from the fuel cell is thus exceeded, a trouble would be generated in power generation in the fuel cell, resulting in that the driving of the fuel cell mount apparatus as a whole cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Particularly, the control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) tends to show a larger load variation than those of the motor and the actuator unit.